Andrew Warner

Republicans in Congress are looking to renew the Patriot Act before Thanksgiving. Democrats in Congress don't seem to be completely rolling over, but it is time to throw these unjust and primitive laws off the books.

The Patriot Act will be regarded in the same fashion as the Red Scare and the Communist witch hunts. I know students who have been detained at federal detention centers for nearly 24 hours just because of their country of origin, skin color, and faith. These laws are clear violations of civil liberties but receive little attention in the mainstream. We can't allow the government to scare us into eavesdropping on our phone conversations, search our houses without even notifying us (they could have already gotten yours), go through our mail, etc...

Doesn't it concern you that they can enter your house, search it and leave without you ever knowing?

I would recommend writing your representative and letting him or her know that discriminatory laws, and laws that violate our Constitutional rights need to be erased and forgotten.

Certain members of congress in both houses are pushing for removal of troops from Iraq.

John Stewart and Stephen Colbert have done a good job of covering this issue in recent episodes as well.

Why is it news that Senators are asking for reports and information about the war? This has gone on long enough and it is time for not only "20,000 Troops Home for the Holidays" as John Kerry is calling his plan, but a full removal.

Rep. John Murtha said it well when he said:

U.S. and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq, it's time for a change in direction."

The war is getting exhausting for our country as well as Iraq. It is time that we realize they are capable of establishing their own government and let them do just that.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments   

The Cincinnati Libertarian Blog announced their candidate for Governor today. Their candidate is a guy named Dr. Bill Peirce. I've never heard of him before but his campaign website is fairly attractive.

This weekend the Ohio Green Party will be voting to endorse the probable Green candidate, Bob Fitrakis. Hopefully things will go well with the state coordinating committee and the endorsement will happen without a hitch.

If events unfold as planned, Ohioans will have four or more different parties to choose from on the ballot in 2006. With Democrats and Republicans in Ohio being so weak it is good to see third parties putting up a fight. Hopefully Ohioans are seeing what is around them and getting fed up with the status quo. Time for everyone to start voting Green.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Greg Korte reports on his blog that David Pepper is seeking Mallory's old job.

I mentioned in a previous post that he would talk to his consultants and figure out the fastest way to get to the Governor's office. That seems to be exactly what he is doing. A seat in the state senate would be one of the quickest paths to that Gubernatorial office.

What I find most interesting about this is that Pepper and Mallory a few years down the road may be competing in a Democratic primary against one another again. Except this time it would be statewide. Pepper is a much more appealing candidate to the entire state than to the city of Cincinnati... I think. His money would certainly make a big difference in a much larger race.

When you meet David he seems like a pretty genuine guy, but I get a laugh out of seeing him lie. He seems to be getting good at it.

A quote from David Pepper after his loss.

I've always said my interest was less about politics generally and more about the city. I never wanted to be someone who just bounced from one thing to the next.

I'll bet.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Vibrant downtowns are built with a backbone of small business.

Let's try that approach. While we develop the banks we need to make sure that the new store fronts are filled with local entrepreneur's.

Brian Griffin nailed it when he said that we can not just sell these spaces to the highest bidder. Unique neighborhoods are one of the strong points of Cincinnati, see the Gas Light or even Northside, so let's make the Banks unique.

The easiest way to create a unique neighborhood is by allowing creative, independent, entrepreneurs the opportunity to open their business there. Consider these comparisons when thinking of a neighborhoods character:

Starbucks vs Kaldi's
House of Blues vs Southgate House or Alchemize

Basically we have the generic place to go in Newport. That is fun, people like it. Let's use our riverfront space for something different. Something authentic.

It is also important to remember that with small businesses the city of Cincinnati will benefit greatly in the end. Local businesses keep their money in the community which only contributes to greater economic success for the city and all its residents.

I will offer a couple of ideas to consider with the development:
1) Ban Big Business from the Banks: Take an approach that only allows local entrepreneurs to rent the space and create a one-in-a-kind neighborhood in downtown Cincinnati. The city may lose money in the short run, but it would pay off in the long haul.

2) Hold one or two spaces for area "anchors." If you need to let some generic places build on our riverfront, let's keep it moderate. Put a House of Blues in or an ESPN zone and then use those to attract people to the area. The small businesses that we move in for cheap will flourish with the help of the bigger, generic spots.

3) Simple price reductions for small businesses, giving them a chance to compete for the retail areas on the river. If the prices are bloated then we will just get Newport on the Levee 2. That's been done, as a region we should not compete with each other, but offer one complete product. Generic, touristy destination on their side, local flavor on ours.

These are just a few ideas, but I am sure they would help develop this space into a unique neighborhood that people would want to move to Cincinnati just to live in. I hope these are considered by the community before just selling to the highest bidder.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments   

It's not hard to tell that David Pepper has been planning his presidential aspirations since he was a young man. This loss is just a minor bump in the road.

Democrats are trying to figure out what to do with him now, but it will only be a stepping stone, as the position of mayor would have been.

David Pepper fits the profile to become president; a rich white guy, Ivy League education, very moderate political stances. Just not the profile for the mayor of Cincinnati.

His political ability improved exponentially this year. Towards the beginning of the race he didn't have the ability to be in the same room as Mallory, by the last two televised debates Pepper was running circles around him. His wit was sharper, he was light and collected compared to the stiff Mallory, and he knew the issues. These lessons will be good for him.

The Democratic Party is trying to get him into another office. The possible choices I have heard so far: County Commissioner, Jean Schmidt's seat on Congress, or a statewide office like Attorney General. I suppose it will be whichever one his consultants say will get him to Governor first.

For better or worse, Cincinnati's golden boy David Pepper has only just begun. At least Mallory delayed his presidential bid for a few extra years.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Congratulations to Brian Cummins, the first-ever Green Party member and first Green Party-endorsed candidate to win elected office in Ohio.

That was the beginning of an e-mail sent out by Ohio Green Party treasurer Paul Dumouchelle. This was surprising news as I was unaware that we even had a candidate in the Cleveland area. Previously the only candidate I had heard of was Toledo at-large council candidate Mitch Balonek.

So I googled the name Brian Cummins to learn about the candidate who had finally broken through for the Ohio Greens. I was able to locate his campaign homepage which was a good source of information. I surfed around for a minute and found no traces of anything Green, other than the fact that he touted the endorsement of The Cuyahoga County Green Party towards the middle of his list of endorsements.

Then surprisingly enough, on his biographical page I saw this:

Party Affiliation: Democrat

To complicate things further I found this victorious candidate on the Ohio Greens Membership List.

I inquired about the situation on the Ohio Greens General List Serve and found that most people were as confused as I was. Most people heard the announcement and assumed it was some big news that may change the Ohio Green Party in a major way.

Instead it was just another example of "the most progressive Democrat" winning an election in Cleveland, where Democrats always win anyway.

This was not a victory for the Ohio Green Party afterall. Also I am almost positive it is not the first time that a major party candidate "endorsed" by a local Green Party has won an election, which makes me wonder why they would even make an announcement like that... It's like the officials of the party didn't even know if he was their candidate or not. A very strange situation to say the least. The first elected Green in Ohio, that idea had my hopes up.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 7:56 PM | Permalink | Comments   

There was talk of a 4AM liquor license for a hot new club in Covington. This would have been another nail in the coffin of Cincinnati, giving people yet another reason to jump over the bridge spend their money in Northern Kentucky. Well, that request has been withdrawn.

This is great news for Cincinnati, but bad news for bar lovers. 4AM liquor licenses have the ability to practically double business for a bar just by the fact that they can stay open the extra two hours. This idea was covered by Nick Spencer a while back.

Ohio should relinquish some of their control over liquor licenses to municipalities in the fashion of Kentucky. This way, if Kentucky were ever to start handing out these coveted 4AM money makers Cincinnati could stay in the running. The sooner the Ohio government realizes Cincinnati is in a battle here, the sooner they can start helping us out.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments   

"If you stand in the middle of the road you get hit from both sides." At least, I think.

The Cincinnati Post wrote an article that states Cincinnati's most recent council election shows that politics of moderation is the new "in" trend.

This is a hard point to dispute as one can see by looking around the world. Tony Blair is a moderate though he is the leader of Labour, which was formerly heavily Socialist and not ashamed of it. Bill Clinton was moderate, he left progressives behind with items such as NAFTA. And the list goes on...

Does the loss of Sam Malone and Chris Smitherman show that moderation has taken over Cincinnati? I would argue that is untrue.

Sam Malone is considered to be a sign of the radical right falling from grace. I don't think he lost for any reason related to his politics. He lost because of his own personal legal trouble, and that disqualifies him as an example of people turning to the center.

Christopher Smitherman is a tougher example. The difference between this candidacy is not only the fact that he appeared more moderate as a first time candidate, but he also raised a significantly larger amount of money.

Another example of being too far left or right would be Damon Lynch. He did better in 2003, but was rejected this year by a few thousand votes. I think he lost this time because he wasn't radical enough. He toned down his message and tried to appeal to the Hyde Park crowd and liberal Democrats, thus alienating his base.

Regardless of the reason, we are stuck with a pretty conservative council. It's not because of the voters love of moderate politics, its their ability to be tricked by billboards and commercials.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Ordinary Peoples are playing Cincinnati tonight. For those who don't know, they are the greatest hip-hop act in the midwest.

They are playing The Viper Room and special guest O.A.R. will be in attendance.

Ordinary Peoples played a fundraiser for my city council campaign and I think this is their first gig in Cincinnati since then. Glad they decided to come back, and hope they come back more often. The more people that get out to their shows the more they will come back.

Go out and see them if you are a fan of hip hop at all.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments   

In a summary article of the city council race Stephanie Dunlap had a parting shot for former mayoral candidate Justin Jeffre.

I was one of the most vocal supporters on the internet of Justin Jeffre's campaign and was angered the first time she had fun at his expense in a different article.

In the most recent article she was discussing the failure of the independent candidates and threw this random comment in about Jeffre:

That must have been disappointing to Justin Jeffre, the former mayoral candidate and 98 Degrees singer who liked to advocate for independent candidates as long as it was himself and the independent media as long as it supported him. He was very briefly seen pontificating for some cameraman at the Board of Elections.

I have had a few problems with Jeffre post-election, but I was still caught off guard by this strange shot on Jeffre. Justin using his celebrity status to try to make fundamental changes for the better is not the best thing to make fun of. I know his band wasn't an indie sensation worthy of City Beat, but come on... Enough already.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments   

With Mallory winning the election their seems to be some shuffling of politicians.

People are already chomping at the bit to take the seats that are getting shuffled around. Everyone's favorite blogger Nate Livingston is even contemplating a run for the state house that may be vacated.

Catherine Barrett, who is my state rep has expressed interest in running for Mallory's. I would say out of the people who have shown interest in the seat she would probably not have a chance. Those people include high profile Cincinnati politicians like Alicia Reece and Tyrone Yates. I think Alicia would probably have the best chance since she still has her name out in Cincinnati.

Either way, the district 32 seat is going to be up. Whether it be next fall or sooner, Barrett is termed out. This is a seat that Greens need to contest. I'm not too familiar with the geographic make-up of the district, but I know it consists of OTR and Clifton, and I believe it goes into Northside and College Hill and other neighborhoods of Cincinnati. These are areas that should be receptive to the Green Party message. Greens would do themselves an injustice by not contesting this seat.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments   

As many know I have just gotten off the campaign trail. The election signalled the end of my days as an employee of the Nick Spencer campaign.

The good news is Nick Spencer is throwing a party for the team members of the campaign.

There were a lot of great volunteers on this campaign and great staff members so I hope they will all make it out. For those who haven't gotten the chance to go to Alchemize, you should. It is one of the best bars in the greater Cincinnati area and OTR needs as many people as possible.

I would also like to join those who have said that Nick has run a classy campaign and I was happy to be a a part of it. I signed on to learn a little more about campaigning and the politics of Cincinnati and I have accomplished those goals. I also was glad to be on the team of such a quality candidate.

I hope all the volunteers of the campaign come out and celebrate a campaign well run.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 6:58 PM | Permalink | Comments   

I have created this blog to allow a little bit more free and diverse content. This way people will also not confuse my personal opinion with the official Green Party line.

Cincinnati Greens will still be operating at a high production level.

Posted by Andrew Warner at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments